Bottom of the food chain
by thatgirlinthepictureisme
Summary: This is a Merthur A/U fic. Merlin is at the bottom of the school food chain, along with his only friend Gwen, but a new boy and girl are arriving- Morgana and Arthur. Non-evil Morgana, brother and sister Arthur and Morgana and eventual Arthur/Merlin. I hope you like this and warning for swearing.
1. Chapter 1

Merlin was lying peacefully on his bed, the sunlight was streaming in through his open window lighting up the small room and causing a soft glow to surround him.  
"Merlin! Wake up, time for school!" He heard his mum shouting as she came thundering up the stairs; she knocked quickly before opening his bedroom door and coming in. She smiled at how serene he looked and it broke her heart to have to get him up, for he would be in trouble if he was late, but it was very rare that Hunith ever got to see her boy so calm and carefree. She crossed his room softly and shook him lightly.

"Merlin, come on wake up." She said gently  
"hmm… go away. Sleepin…" He mumbled, she let out a small laugh and replied with  
"Merlin I can tell when you're awake" which caused Merlin to open his eyes and smile at his mother.  
"Come on dear, you need to get ready for school." He groaned; school, he hated it. The other kids teased him mercilessly about how poor he was especially when compared to them. Merlin never told his mum about the bullying but it was always awkward when she asked why he never went out with his friends or invited them round. He told her that they were busy or had gone on holiday, but in reality he didn't have friends. He had one friend Gwen, they were social outcasts. Occasionally a new student would arrive and would talk to them, but as soon as they realised they were at the bottom of the school food chain, and that Merlin was the main target for bullying they avoided the duo like the plague. There used to be three of them it was Will, Merlin and Gwen, but Will had gone off to Ireland with his dad two years previously and it was too hard to keep in contact, what with Gwen and Merlin spending so much time studying or working for extra money, they had little free time and so the weekly phone calls and e-mails turned to monthly and then just fizzled out; and so only Gwen and Merlin were left.

"Fine, fine I'm getting up." He exclaimed getting off of his bed with his arms raised before stretching his long limbs.  
"Right I'll go get breakfast ready then" she replied pulling on one of his large ears-one of the things he was teased on- then she exited the room. _'maybe today will be better' _he thought to himself; two new students were scheduled to arrive today all he knew was their names and ages: Morgana who would be in year 11 with Merlin and Gwen while Arthur would be in year 12 doing his first year of A-levels but Merlin was probably the smartest kid in school meaning he was doing some A-level courses along with his remaining G.C.S.E's. _'yeah right they probably won't look twice at us'_ he thought dejectedly. Merlin quickly got changed into his loose-fitting dark brown trousers, a blue shirt and his old brown pleather jacket, before running downstairs to his mum.

He ran his hand through his hair before walking into the kitchen; his mum was at the table sat on one of the three cheap stools they had. She had a coffee in her hand and was reading a tatty book. She looked up at Merlin, smiled then gestured to the cereal on the table. He sat down and as soon as she saw him getting breakfast she went back to her book. Merlin watched his mother; he loved watching her eyes flicker across the pages as she became completely absorbed by the book. He smiled to himself before excusing himself from the table, careful not to shake the table on its rickety legs too much. He collected his schoolbag, called a quick good-bye to his mum and left the house. Preparing himself for another day of hiding of hiding from the bullies and not getting rejected by the new kids. '_Today's gonna be tough' _he thought taking a deep-breathe and walking away from his house.

_**Ok I hope you enjoyed that and I really want to actually finish this which I won't if I have no reviews so pretty please with awesomeness things review this :D**__**  
Thank you **____** less-than-3 *hugs**__**  
lou lou xx**_


	2. Chapter 2

The way that Merlin walked to school was the longest route he had figured out he could take; he took this route because a) he liked the walk b) he liked the route and c) it meant there was little time hanging around school waiting for it to start. He liked the walk because when he was walking he was alone with his thoughts, and it gave him time to plan out how he would hope to spend the day i.e chilling with Gwen and avoiding bullies.

He liked the route because it took him through a forest-not the kind where you're wondering aimlessly through thick trees trying to avoid getting wacked in the face by branches, no, the kind where there's a worn down path surrounded by nature; one were the trees were not so thick that you couldn't walk through them but not so thin so you could see all the roads and modern buildings. He thought of it as his wood, he'd never seen anyone else there and it was peaceful, serene. The woods also contain a river which along the bank had beautiful flowers which on the way home he would often pick for his mother; sometimes if he set off earlier than usual he would stop by the river on one of the rocks and watch the water flow, if any animals were nearby he would talk to them and often they appeared to stop and listen.

This time Merlin did not stop. He was far too absorbed in his own thoughts and simply let his feet carry him along the familiar path. He was thinking about where he could hide that day, he knew the boys would be especially cruel to him today- they would want to show the new people that he was scum and that Gwen was invisible. The library was always a good place to hide because of all the shelves but this also made it a bad place since the other boys could duck behind shelves to hide from him and teachers _'right not the library today' _ he thought _'Mr Wilson did say he could use some assistance…__ plus maybe having a teacher around may get the bullies to leave me alone today.__'_

_*****_Mr Wilson (full name Gaius Wilson) was a chemistry teacher. Merlin's mum, Hunith, had gone to school with Gaius so he was a close family friend, it made calling him Mr Wilson seem very odd to Merlin since he always called him Gaius but he always wanted an extra pair of hands to collect and tidy away equipment for experiments and that's what merlin was good at, helping out. His mum always said if he'd been born in the medieval period he'd have made an excellent manservant, Merlin disagreed he was good at helping out but his long, gangly limbs made him incredibly clumsy.

As he walked through the school gates he noticed something was wrong, well maybe not wrong but something had definitely happened. He knew this because no one had come up to him to ridicule or humiliate him nor had he heard any snide remarks about his scruffy outfit and his lack of money. Merlin did a quick scan of the courtyard outside Camelot high and he noticed that there were teachers _everywhere_. He actually stopped for a second, since the sight of one teacher before school was very rare, but he quickly recovered and hurried towards the doors of the castle like school. As he was walking he looked around again and that's when he saw all the murderous looks being sent his way, even the kids who didn't bully him specifically like Morgause and Sophia were glaring at him but no one made a move towards him, not even Cenred his most regular and cruellest bully.

As soon as he was safe inside (or at least as safe as you can be from bullies) Merlin leaned against the wall and sighed. He wasn't sure if he liked this or not; on the one hand no one had bullied him but the looks he'd been given made him certain he was in for a world of pain later. He sighed again, hung his head and pushed off the wall and started heading down the corridor.

He carried on walking to the end of the corridor his footsteps echoing along the hall before he quickly climbed the stairs, shoved open the double doors and went into his form room-opposite the staircase. His form tutor, _*****__*****_Miss Pardus, was sat at her desk marking biology papers her dark naturally wavy hair hung loose over her shoulders and she was wearing a dark maroon and red dress. When she looked up and saw Merlin stood there she smiled; Merlin was a brilliant pupil, not just because he was a genius (which he was) but because he had a good work ethic, was always offering to help out all the teachers even if they did not teach him and he was not an arrogant pupil.

"Why are all those teachers outside?" Merlin blurted out "miss" he added at the end so as not to seem impolite.  
"Well Merlin you know the two students who are arriving at this school today?" it was a rhetorical question but Merlin nodded his head anyway "Those to students are the headmasters children he decided that he was not satisfied with the schools they were going to, but because of this the teachers have been strictly instructed to keep the kids under control. Mr Pendragon is not often here in the morning but this morning he shall be and he wants this school to make a good impression on his children so the other teachers are keeping the students in check." She told him

"Thank you miss my curiosity has been quenched." he replied a big grin lighting up his face. With that he then turned and left the classroom the smile disappearing almost immediately as a realisation dawned upon him. there was no way these new pupils would even consider being friends with him he was a scholarship student in a school filled with people with rich parents as was Gwen, he was also a genius making him the smartest in year 11 and having already completed the majority of his G.C.S.E's had moved onto doing some A-level classes as well which was why he was more of a target than Gwen. He was a nerd, a geek, a drip, a goody-two-shoes (well that's what he was called). The bullying didn't affect him as much as it used to but it still hurt. He just dreaded the day when people found out he was gay, if he thought his life was bad at the moment he knew it would get so much worse if he came out…

* * *

_***Mr Wilson is obviously based on Gaius. Wilson is the last name of the actor who plays him so, yeah, just thought I'd tell you that in case you were confused :D**_  
_*****__*****__**Miss Pardus is based on Freya. Pardus is latin for panther and I thought that would be a fitting last name for her since she turned into a panther…**_

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_**I hope you enjoyed that thank you to all the people who reviewed chapter 1 :D **__**so here's a shout out to my 4 reviewers**__**- **__**Jessymessy101; **__**TracesOfTrueLove**__**; **__**xelloss100**__**; **__**Uncreativenamethinker. Y**__**ou guys really made my day/night :D**__**  
**__***hugs* and awesomeness stuff to you lovely people reading this I LOVE YOU!**__**  
less-than-3**__** lou lou xx  
p.s If anyone is interested in being my beta for this then let me know :)**_


	3. Chapter 3

The walk to the library took 5 minutes but it felt like less. Merlin shoved open the big oak doors sending a smile over to Geoffrey the old librarian who had been rumoured to be here longer than any of the teachers and according to school yard actually hated all the teachers; Merlin knew this wasn't true at all since he'd seen him have some seemingly pleasant conversations with Gaius _'damnit Mr Wilson, I've got to stop calling him that__.'_

He walked past Geoffrey's desk and headed through the many shelves heading for the back of the library in the far corner where he knew there was his pile of favourite books and a worn but comfortable chair. As Merlin turned to get to walk into the corner he stopped. Sat in Merlin's usual chair was a blonde haired boy he didn't recognise; he was wearing a red shirt with a silvery grey jacket over the top and a pair of black skinny jeans, he looked about the same age as Merlin. _'Wow he is fucking beautifu__l, but who the hell is he'_ As if the mysterious boy sensed someone watching him he looked up at Merlin and gave him a curious look.  
"Can I help you?" He asked _'god his voice is just as gorgeous as him' _Merlin couldn't help thinking,it was deep and powerful like the boy had a lot of authority. "Did you not here me you dollop head?" Merlin grinned at that feeling cheeky.  
"Dollop head? Is that the best you could come up with?" This made the other boy appear slightly flustered. "And who the fuck are you?" Merlin was curious again his curiosity was never quenched for long just transferred into another form of curiosity. The other boy shook his head and got up.  
"No-one." He said before getting up and shoving past Merlin. _'What the hell did I do to make him do th__at? Shit, I hope I didn't offend him. But who gets offended by being asked who they are? Maybe it sounded really rude. But seriously who the fuck was he?' _ Those thoughts just kept circling around Merlin's head as he sat down in the chair before he picked up the book the boy had been reading _'Arthur and his knights of the round table interesting choice of book' _Merlin was incredibly curious now but decided to read the book in hopes of finding something that may give him some answers _'yeah right, I don't kno__w anything about that boy how will this book help' _but Merlin sat down and started to read it anyway.

* * *

Although the school was the size of a small castle there were only around 480 pupils attending it. There were 4 forms per year each, with around 20 pupils in the form, this gave a total of 24 forms thus there were around 480 pupils which even for a private school with a reputation like theirs was high.

There were two ways of getting into Camelot High a) having personal connections and some money b) being fabulously rich and c) having an outstanding report with an intelligent grade average. Merlin and Gwen were the latter with the majority of the people at the school being the second option. Gwen's report was one parent's dream of: no record of being late; no sick days; no detentions; all homework in on time; and a high grade average, that's how she had gotten into Camelot High her Primary School had given her an amazing report and she had passed the entry exam with the result of a 'C' which for an 11 year old is pretty damn impressive. Merlin had a similar report though his record was not quite as good: there had been 5 late days in the winter every year before Camelot High; 20 days off school when he had been in hospital after someone _accidently _shoved him into a ditch, but had done as much work as physically possible; no recorded detentions; all homework in on time; and always had top mark in the class. The main reason Merlin had gotten in had not been because of his report but because when he took the entry exam he had received an 'A' which had been two marks off of an 'A*' which was unheard of for anyone who had taken it before (most people didn't transfer into the school). So Merlin and Gwen were on a full scholarship and that's really how they had become friends. Both were outsiders. Will had been Merlin's best friend from a small local school called Ealdor, and so it became the three of them meeting up after school and at weekends but then Will and left them.

The reason Camelot High had such a good reputation was because all the students passed their G.C.S.E's and A-levels with an 'A' grade average, also most of the pupils got into their first choice university which was often Cambridge or Oxford. Sometimes the kids of wealthy businessmen don't go to university but instead go straight into the family business.

The classes varied in size depending on the subject but were usually quite small; this was helpful since if you wanted to change options (classes) spacing wasn't an issue. This was why Merlin was able to attend some A-level classes, the only other person to be doing this was another year 11 boy called Gwaine who was in Merlin's form.

Gwaine was not a scholarship student; his dad had been the owner of a highly successful business which his mum now ran. He had a very jokey attitude and did not come across as giving much of fuck; he was a well-known flirt and rumoured to go out to parties and get drunk most week-ends. This meant people tended to think Gwaine wasn't that bright and had only managed to not be kicked out of school through money; it was quite the opposite really he liked to give of the air that _"this shit is beneath me" _and _"I don't give a flying fuck about school" _but he actually cared very deeply about his education. He was the only person who came close to matching Merlin's intellect and genius.

Gwaine had been one of the few transfer students that had arrived a couple of months after Will had left, meaning he had joined during year 9 around the time that options for G.C.S.E's were being chosen. Unlike most of the kids who got in because of money Gwaine didn't treat the scholarship students any different. When he had first joined he and Merlin had become sort of friends; they talked about the many G.C.S.E's they were planning on taking. But once Gwaine saw Merlin being picked on by some kid he had stood up for Merlin, but when Gwaine's mum found out she went bat shit crazy that he'd stood up for someone who _"could be shinning his shoes" _(her words not Gwaine's) and had forbidden Gwaine from doing it again.  
"It's not fair!" Gwaine had exclaimed when he found out and was telling Merlin "I bet my father wouldn't have said that" but Gwaine had not wanted to disappoint his mum had stopped talking to Merlin and whenever he saw any bullying simply pretended it was not happening. Well that wasn't completely true whenever he saw Merlin being bullied the next day he would always look at him during form and when Merlin glanced at him would always give him an apologetic smile before turning away, and that made the bullying not seem quite so bad.

* * *

10 minutes into reading the book the warning bell for the start of form went which meant Merlin had 5 minutes to get t form, though half the time he seemed to be the only person to get to form on time. When Merlin arrived at form Gwaine was the only other person there aside from Miss Pardus. Gwaine appeared to be doodling and when he heard Merlin enter the classroom he looked up, caught his eye, grinned, winked, and then turned back to his doodling. _'Well that was di__fferent…' _Merlin thought as he went to sit down in his usual place in the far back corner.

No-one ever sat here because of the spiders and cobwebs that were often by the window next to the desk. Of course no-one said that was the reason why, they all said it's because they didn't want to sit were the _loser_ normally sits; if they said it was because of the spiders then they would be called a pussy and, well, none of them wanted that. Merlin didn't mind the spiders, he loved all animals and Spiders were no exception.

Form was very boring owing to the fact that Gwen was not in his form with him so he always spent it sat in silence proof reading all his work that he had to hand in that day. He was thankful that Gwen was in all of the G.C.S.E's classes that he had left to do but Cenred was in his form and without Gwen there nothing could distract him.

Merlin had been reading through the English literature A-level course work he had to hand in today when he heard the tell-tale signs of the rest of the form arriving late. He could hear their raucous laughter echo down the hallway before they even got to the door. He looked up at Miss Pardus and saw her sigh heavily and shake her head.

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_**Who is this mysterious blonde boy? I hear you ask but hopefully all will be revealed next chapter unless your vaguely intelligent and have already figured it out :P  
So I hope you liked the latest instalment of 'Bottom of the Food Chain' :D thank you to: Jessymessy101;Uncreativenamethinker; and BabyGlover for reviewing chapter 2 ^_^ you made me sooooooo happy  
*hugs* and awesomeness stuff to you guys reading this and have put it on alert I LOVE YOU!11!1!  
less-than-3 lou lou xx  
p.s reviews are amazing and appreciatedand I still have no beta *hint-hint* ;)  
**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N- guys I am so sorry about the long wait everything has been a little hectic with going on holiday, meeting up with friends, joining new fandoms, starting back at school and having homework :( and I haven't had time to type this up I hope this is worth it and you have every right to hate me.**_

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Cenred entered the room first closely followed by his group of cronies nicknamed his 'knights'-they we're called this mainly because whatever he told them to do they followed like orders from a king. Merlin slouched in his seat and averted his eyes away from where the boys had come in quickly and tried to relocate his place in the essay, but it was too late. Cenred had already caught him watching and was making his way over. _'oh shi__t, looks like the spiders won't scare him today' _Cenred and his 'knights' sat on the tables surrounding Merlin but before they could say anything Mr Wilson rushed in and asked to borrow Merlin.  
"Why?" asked Miss Pardus voicing Merlin's confusion.  
"I need him to show the new student around, the boy."  
"Oh of course, Merlin you may go" He hurriedly packed away his things before standing up to leave with Gaius.  
"Merlin you may as well leave your bag you'll be back well before the bell goes." Merlin blushed before he dropped his bag and headed out the classroom, he thanked his lucky stars no one decided to try and trip him up

"He's just down the corridor" Gaius informed him as they left the classroom before heading off down the opposite direction of the corridor. Merlin silently nodded before looking up to where the new boy was waiting, leant against the wall casually. Merlin suddenly stopped opening his mouth wide when a realisation dawned on him.  
"You're that boy from the library!" Merlin exclaimed causing the blond boy to smirk and roll his eyes before pushing off the wall which conveniently gave Merlin the chance to actually look at him. His clothes fit him well and looked as if they were designer; the black jeans were tight but not so that they looked impossible to get on nor so loose that they showed no shape; while his red shirt clung to him in all the right places showing that he clearly worked out; the silver grey jacket was gone and he appeared to not have his bag either so Merlin assumed he must be one of those people who actually used their locker; his skin tone was tanned not overly so that it looked orange or clearly fake but the kind that showed he'd spent some time in the sun relaxing giving him a healthy glow.

"My name is Arthur, Arthur Pendragon and I assume you must be Merlin." He proceeded to look Merlin up and down which only caused him to feel self-conscious (more so than usual) and blush.  
"Yeah" Merlin replied lamely "so Gaius-I mean Mr Wilson-said I need to show you around" Merlin said after a few moments of silence.  
"Apparently so" Arthur muttered still staring at Merlin with a gaze almost piercing.  
"Well let's get going then" Merlin finally said as he gestured with his arms wildly and narrowly avoided knocking one of the displays off the wall.

As they set off down the corridor Arthur asked Merlin what classes were held in these classrooms because although his father was headmaster he had never actually been shown around Merlin informed Arthur that the corridor contained most of the English and other language rooms, with the exception of Latin which was on the next corridor because surprisingly many people wished to study it. Silence quickly lapsed over the two boys until Arthur coughed gaining Merlin's attention.  
"So Merlin when did you start coming here?" He asked. Merlin sighed because this was the part when he had to tell the student he was on scholarship and what with them usually having obnoxious rich parents they started to ignore him.  
"Well at the end of my first year at my old secondary school-Ealdor you probably haven't heard of it- I took the entrance exam and passed with full marks and I've been here ever since." He answered shrugging.  
"That was you? I've overheard Gaius talk about this child genius that was here"  
"Why do you say that like it's so surprising that I'm a 'child genius' as you put it" Merlin replied incredulously. Arthur stared at him and simply replied.  
"You just don't look the type" Merlin glared at him before telling him that they were now in the creative arts section of the school.

The creative arts section of the school was at the back corridor of the school it was the longest corridor and lead out to the field. The lower corridor contained drama and design and technology with a dance studio built at the edge of the field near the double doors and upstairs had art, textiles and music.  
Merlin heard Arthur murmur bitterly "father never lets me do creative arts." But Merlin said nothing in return out of fear that he wasn't meant to have heard the words. Arthur then turned his head towards the raven haired boy and asked whether he did any of the creative arts. Merlin smiled shyly before telling the blonde that he did Drama and Art. Arthur nodded his head before turning his gaze towards a display of photographs of a dance class performance. Unbeknown to anyone but Merlin's mother was fact that Merlin didn't just study art and drama he adored them.

He loved drama because it meant he could slip into the role of someone who wasn't him, he could live a different life to his own in those few precious hours; as for art he had a special book which he devoted to creative work typically it was just filled with doodles but it also had creative writing and some amazing still life drawings. No one knew about this book not even his mum and he wanted to keep it that way; it was something that was his and only his and if his mum found out she would probably show it to school and then his class mates would- Merlin shuddered he daren't think what they would do. He mainly worked in the book at lunch and before school when Gwen wasn't around.

* * *

The rest of the tour was passed in silence, the only noises being the sound of their shoes along the wooden floor and Merlin naming subjects taught along each corridor accompanied by Arthur's occasional noise of acknowledgement. Merlin noticed he had a habit of rolling his eyes and staring at him like he was a moron.

"And finally this is the library but you already knew that" Merlin said trying to add some humour to accompany the silence between them hoping to get Arthur to smile but Arthur just rolled his eyes _'fuck he does that a lot'._  
"Yes thank you _Mer_lin I think I can handle myself from here."  
"You sure about that" Merlin replied cheekily with shit eating grin on his face happy to have started a bit of banter between them. But Arthur gave him a pointed look which had Merlin backing away with his hands in the air.  
"Fine, fine; don't come crying to me if you get lost" (which caused another eye roll from Arthur) and turned around to head back to form.

* * *

When Merlin walked back into the classroom the first thing he noticed was that Miss Pardus was not there, then he heard the snickers and saw (as well felt) his class mates watching him. Now this in itself wasn't weird but he felt like something was wrong. As he approached his desk the laughter got louder and that was when Merlin saw it. His bag was open on the desk and clearly rummaged through _'shit they've found it. They've fucking found it!' _ His mind screamed angrily as tears started to fill his eyes. He blinked rapidly; he would not give them the satisfaction of seeing him cry. And sure enough lying on top of the desk was his book the pages torn and 'FAG', 'PUSSY', 'HOMO' and other slurs scrawled across his work. He turned around and saw Gwaine stand up.  
"I tried to stop them. I-"but he was cut off by Merlin shoving everything back into his bag and storming out the classroom. Miss Pardus walked into the classroom as Merlin rushed out the room. He heard her yell at the class and call his name but he didn't stop. He wouldn't stop. He just kept running.

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_**A/N 2- sorry this is short but thank you everyone who has alerted, favourited, and thank you to the lovely reviewers: Uncreativenamethinker; BeautifulLotus; XxMerlingirlxx; and a very special thank you to the 'guest' who had the idea of someone going through Merlin's bag :) I hope you liked this and hopefully you won't have to wait forever for the next update :P I'm a review whore so gimme gimme gimme ;)**_

_**LOVE YOU GUYS less-than-3 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxx **_


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: I just realised I have yet to do a disclaimer so yeah I don't own Merlin yadda yadda yadda but if I did there'd be canon Merthur ;)**_

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When Merlin stopped running he found that he was yet again outside the library. A brief look inside revealed that Geoffrey was not at the desk by the door or anywhere else viewable from the door either. Merlin let out a quick sigh of relief, before he took a moment to breathe deeply; wipe away any fallen tears; and push open the door.

At a quick scan of the library Merlin noticed a trolley half full of books by a bookcase in the far right corner. Not wanting Geoffrey to ask why he was there, Merlin snuck in and headed to the far left corner; but he stopped when he heard quiet murmurs.  
"Come on Arthur it can't have been that bad" he heard a female Irish voice ask. He quickly snuck behind the bookcase next to where the voices where coming from.  
"Morgana the guy was a complete clot pole! He was so gangly and barely said anything but to tell me what classrooms where what! It was so _bor_ing!" Merlin gasped _'that's Arthur's voice! Great as i__f my day couldn't get any worse I have to listen to this fucking dick insult me!'_ He heard the Morgana girl chuckle? Giggle?  
"Well it's all right for you that Gwen girl sounds to have already become great friend if the way you two where giggling when I came in is anything to go by." _'Wait Gwen was here why was she hear? Oh Morgana must be the other daughter to the Mr Uther Pendragon' _  
"Oh Gwen is lovely Arthur, she told me about this Merlin too and he sounds sweet so stop being a child." Merlin heard Arthur grumble under his breath and that combined with the fact that Morgana who had never even met him was defending him made him smile.

Merlin felt rude listening without their knowledge so he stepped out from behind the bookcase and coughed. He saw Arthur's head snap up and who he assumed to be Morgana smile. She was beautiful and if Merlin was attracted to girls he'd probably have _'like' _her. She had dark almost black long hair curled and pulled over her left shoulder; her eyes were a bright green and her skin pale white; she was wearing a low cut purple dress that had blue long sleeves and came to just above mid-thigh length, with black tights and a pair of pumps that were purple and had blue toes that matched her dress.

"Merlin what are you doing here." Arthur demanded.  
"What? Am I not allowed to go to the school library?" Merlin replied snarkily.  
"Well shouldn't you be in form?" Arthur snapped back. Merlin stood there with his mouth open before he shut it and started to blush. _'Shit. I forgot that he kne__w it was form now.' _  
"Arthur leave the poor boy alone" Morgana answered for him "I'm Morgana Arthur's half-sister." _'Oh well that makes sense' _  
"Umm well I'm Merlin but I guess you already knew that…" Merlin replied running a hand through his hair. Arthur rolled his eyes; Morgana whacked him on the arm and said  
"Arthur stop doing that it's rude!" And although Merlin agreed he said nothing and instead walked out the library and headed down the corridor.

* * *

Merlin wasn't looking where he was walking, just letting his feet guide him and eventually he found himself at the double doors leading to the field. He walked to the far side of the field where the woods started. Although the woods did not belong to the school the public tended not to go through them because of the less reputable of the students who went there to smoke and take drugs. Merlin didn't know the woods well. He had only been in them a few times; he had been chased into them on a couple of occasions and he had taken a short cut through them when going to town once or twice.

He stood on the edge of the woods debating walking in he looked around to see if anyone was around, they weren't _'why would they be. Everyone's still in form' _He took a look at his watch. It had been his fathers the only thing of his that his mother still owned. _'There's only 5 minutes left of form' _Merlin sighed and turned to head back to school.

* * *

Chemistry was Merlin's first class, it was one of the classes he had with the year 12's and it was also a class were his teacher was Mr Wilson. Merlin walked into the half full room avoiding everyone's gaze he hurried to the back of the room and quickly got out his book and a working pen, then stared fixedly at the board.

He heard the door open and the room went silent. Arthur had walked in.  
"Ah, Mr Pendragon, please take a seat by Mr Emrys." He said, when he noticed Arthur that Arthur hadn't moved he added "Merlin." Merlin looked down but could still feel Arthur- and the rest of the class- staring at him. His cheeks started to heat up and he started to take some deep breathes. He hadn't told Arthur that he took some A-level courses, so he figured Arthur was going to be asking him questions.

Eventually the class turned back around to face Gaius which was when Arthur took his chance to talk to Merlin.  
"So you're doing A-level Chemistry?" Arthur whispered in a surprised tone, but Merlin just ignored him. "C'mon _Mer_lin I know you're year 11. How did _you_ get into doing A-level Chemistry?" He said incredulously. Merlin sighed and turned slightly towards the other boy.  
"Well considering the fact that I'm technically a genius is it really that surprising?" Merlin murmured back before turning back to pay attention to the work on board.  
"Oh. So earlier what were you doing in the library?" Merlin shuffled in his seat, furrowed his brow and concentrated on doing his work "_Mer_lin." Arthur nudged Merlin trying to gain his attention, but the noise he was making must have attracted Gaius's focus.  
"Mr Pendragon, you may be the head masters son but that does not exclude you from having to pay attention in class." Merlin imagined that people would have laughed or at least snickered but the glares Arthur was sending around the room were enough to stop anyone considering it.

Arthur left Merlin alone for the rest of the lesson for which Merlin was grateful.

* * *

_**(change of POV this has been in Merlin's POV but for this last bit it will be in Arthur's but just to make it extra clear I'll do Arthur's thoughts in bold italics :) )**_

* * *

Merlin ran out of the classroom as soon as the bell went for the end of class, leaving Arthur shocked _**'what the hell has gotten into him' **_he thought to himself as he got up and packed away his stuff.

His next class was politics. Arthur knew this wasn't going to be his favourite class because his father had dictated the A-levels he could and couldn't do; politics was one of the classes he was being forced into doing. Arthur sighed before heading to the classroom, thankfully remembering where it was to Merlin's tour.

When he entered the classroom he spotted one of Morgause, a friend of Morgana's. They knew each other through Uther, Arthur wasn't exactly sure of the details but they acted like sisters. There was something about Morgause that Arthur didn't like, but he never said anything because she acted differently around Morgana; sweeter.

She noticed him immediately and swished her long curled blonde hair before gesturing at the seat next to her. It wasn't until he sat down that he realised she had started telling those around her the latest gossip.  
"So you know that Merlin boy in Year 11 the _genius_ one" Everyone laughed. Arthur frowned to himself but decided he might as well listen in; how else was he going to find out what was up with Merlin. "Well Cenred says he found this notebook that he's got. Apparently it's full of all this gay shit, or at least it was." She continued with a smirk and an evil glint in her eyes. "Stuff like poems and faggoty art as well as some stories or something." She said with a laugh. Arthur started to feel uncomfortable_**'why is she laughing? That's bullshit**__** thing to do**__**' **_he thought with a frown. Someone then asked her how this Cenred boy found it.  
"Well, when Merlin left to give the lovely Arthur here" She said turning slightly towards Arthur, flicking her hair in his direction. "They decided to go through his bag, you know for laughs, which was when they found the notebook. So Cenred and his knights went through it and pretty much destroyed everything." By this point Morgause was cackling like she was an evil witch; Arthur confused as to how a teacher could let this happen interrupted her to ask  
"But didn't the teacher try and stop them?"  
"Well obviously not." Morgause drawled out as a reply. "Miss Pardus or whatever the fuck she's called had gone to talk to Gaius or something."

Arthur nodded his head; not interested in the conversation anymore he turned to face the front. He'd been so wrapped up in the conversation that he hadn't realised there was no teacher there yet.  
"Hey Morgause, who teaches this class?" he asked with a frown. She huffed in annoyance.  
"Oh, I forgot, you're new here" She smirked before continuing "It's you're dear old dad. The headmaster." _**'Well fuck'**_

* * *

_**A/N 2: so guys hoped you liked this you have finally (albeit briefly) met Morgana :) thank you so much to KxZ fan girl; nannily; Flametail; Guest; scaryneko; and Merthur4Evah you guys made me super-dooper happy with your reviews :D**__**  
Reviews are like an addictive drug to me so you guys need to get me my fix ;) to everyone who has alerted/favourite/is just reading this I LOVE YOU!1!1!111!**__**  
less-than-3 lou lou xxxxx**_


	6. I feel these chapters should have names

_**A/N: Merlin I unfortunately do not own :( but I do own this story :) or at least I think I do…  
Also there's lots of dialogue in this chapter and I'm quite disappointed with this chapter (or at least the start of it) so sorry about that :/**_

* * *

_**(Arthur's POV just a reminder his thoughts are in bold italics)**_

* * *

Arthur's mouth flew open upon hearing Morgause tell him his father would be teaching him. But as he heard snorts and chuckles coming from her friends he quickly snapped his jaw shut. _**'Why on earth didn't I know this? Why didn't he tell me? Why is he even teaching it?' **_These thoughts flew round Arthur's mind not sure if he should voice them or not.  
"Oh quit looking so confused and forlorn." He heard an irritated Morgause say. "He doesn't always teach us we have supplies and shit every now and then. Anyway I don't get what the big deal is, doesn't your dad teach you to be like him at home anyway." Now Arthur was really confused and vaguely hurt as well.  
"What do you mean 'doesn't my dad teach me to be like him at home'?" He retorted. Morgause smiled.  
"Well everyone knows Uther isn't very fatherly towards you, and Morgana tells me many stories. This class might be called politics but whenever Mr Pendragon teaches it always ends up being about his conquests in the political world and how he became head master and such." Arthur opened and closed his mouth unsure of how he should respond, before deciding to turn around and pay attention to the teacher.

The rest of the class passed with relative ease, though Arthur's mind frequently wondered back to the issue of Merlin. Merlin; a boy he barely even knew yet couldn't get out of his head. He couldn't figure out why he cared so bloody much that he hadn't been in class when he should have been and that he had hurried out of Chemistry in such a hurry Arthur felt as though his presence had offended him.

A 15 minute break was after Politics, and as Arthur left the classroom he spotted Morgana further down the corridor.  
"Morgana!" he shouted running after her. She turned on the spot, spotted him and smiled.  
"Yes brother." Arthur rolled his eyes.  
"You know I hate it when I say that." Morgana grinned widely and laughed.  
"But that's why I do it dear brother" She replied innocently, as though she hadn't been laughing just a moment before. Arthur let out a long suffering sigh.  
"So what are you doing for lunch?" He asked her. She smiled brightly at him before replying  
"I'm going to eat with Gwen." Arthur's face fell for a second _**'shit who am I gonna eat with now?' **_"You can eat with us if you want." She continued noticing Arthur's expression. He shook his head remembering playing football with some guys before school.  
"No it's fine. Lancelot, you know one of the guys I was playing footie with before class" Morgana nodded "he said I could eat with him." Morgana smiled once he said this relieved he wouldn't be eating alone. Arthur looked around him noticing barely anyone was around "Shit we should probably go find our classes." He mumbled and with that they headed to their separate classes.

* * *

_**A/N (Merlin's point of view now so his thoughts are not in bold)**_

* * *

Merlin took his seat in A-level maths muttering bitterly under his breath _'I just know he's gonna be in this class__. What is it about him. I can't get him out of my head. That fucking Prick Arthur Pendragon!' _ He wasn't paying attention to who was coming into the classroom, too absorbed in his own thoughts.  
"Ah Arthur it looks as though the only free is next to Merlin, so if you would kindly go and sit there." Merlin heard the teacher say and snapped up his head. _'Shit! Just my fucking luck!' _Merlin glared at Arthur _'god I can't believe this. He seemed kinda nice but I saw him talking to Morgause, Odin and them lot I be__t they had a right laugh talking about what Cenred and his knights did' _Arthur looked at him confused and slightly hurt. But Merlin just shook his head and stared straight ahead at the board, trying to figure out what the teacher was on about; it was no use. His gaze kept shifting over to where Arthur was staring at him.

The bell to signal the end of lesson and beginning of lunch went and teacher dismissed class, but before Merlin could leave he felt Arthur grab his arm. He turned around.  
"What do you want?" He hissed angrily. Arthur stepped back in confusion unsure of what had happened to cause Merlin to turn on him, he'd seemed so friendly and nice during the tour and in the library.  
"What's the matter with you? Why won't you talk to me? And why are you so pissed at me?" He questioned.  
"I'm surprised you still want to be seen around me, let alone talking to me. I saw you with Morgause and Odin." Merlin shot back looking hurt. A look of realisation shot across Arthurs face, he looked down.  
"So you know what they say about you."  
"Of course I fucking know! It's hard to miss the looks they give at me when laughing, or the glares they send me!" He shouted glad everyone had left. Arthur looked up with wide eyes.  
"I-I'm sorry Merlin. I thought it was wrong what they said." He answered insistently  
"Well did you try and stop them? Did you defend me or anything?" Merlin retorted his eyes starting to glisten with tears _'don't fucking cry. It's not worth it. HE'S not fucking worth it.' _Arthur looked down again.  
"I really am sorry Merlin it was horrible listening to what they did to you and with Morgana laughing as well-" Merlin interrupted him  
"yeah well you didn't care to stop her or tell them you thought it was wrong. So you're just as fucking bad!" he wiped away the tears from his eyes and stormed out.

* * *

_**(Arthur's point of view)**_

* * *

'_**Well I fucked that up then.' **_ Arthur sighed and headed out the classroom to lunch. Year 11 and all of sixth-form were allowed to go out of school for lunch so Arthur headed up to a local chippie shop but upon seeing the queue decided not to bother, he wasn't feeling hungry anyway only thirsty, so he went into the nearest shop, without a queue, and bought a bottle of coke. There was a park nearby with a massive field that Lancelot said he and his friends were going to be at during lunch so after 10 minutes of walking and following some directions from the GPS on his phone he found it.

He immediately saw a group of boys playing football and approached them noticing Lancelot.  
"Hey Lance!" He shouted wandering towards them. Lancelot looked up and grinned.  
"Arthur! Didn't know if you'd find us."  
"I nearly didn't but-" He held up his phone "thank god for GPS." He replied with a laugh.  
"Well let me introduce the guys. Guys come meet the new guy Arthur" The 'guys' consisted of 4 other guys: one had curly blonde hair and was called Leon; another had dark longish hair which he kept flipping out of his face, he was called Gwaine and apparently was a big flirt; one guy had a close shaven hair and looked huge but he was not nearly as intimidating as he looked, this guy was Percival; and the last, who was called Elyan, had dark skin with really short hair, Arthur found out he was Gwen's brother and if Gwen was anything like her brother Arthur was sure he wouldn't mind if she tagged along with Morgana.

* * *

The boys knew a short cut that lead straight to school so they played football for around another half an hour before heading back to school. On the way back Arthur and Lance walked behind the others as they walked through the woods, which was when Arthur decided to ask about Merlin.

"So do you guys know Merlin?" Lance looked down sadly  
"Yeah we know him, Gwaine and I are in his year and Elyan is his best, well his only friend's brother."  
"You mean he only has Gwen?" Arthur said shocked  
"Well they used to have this other friend Will but he left a while ago his dad's job caused him to move or something." Lance told him  
"I'm judging from the way you talk about him that you guys aren't bullying him" Lance sighed which was when Gwaine who had been listening to their conversation joined in.  
"Of course we don't Merlin's a great guy and to be honest we'd love to be his mate but we know if we did try and defend him it would cause shit for us!" Arthur stared at him  
"So you're telling me that no one cares because they've got their own reputation to care for." He retorted angrily. Gwaine sighed and stopped walking.  
"Kind of. But the shit Cenred and his knights pulled this morning was too far and for once I actually stood up for him, I even tried follow him out of the classroom after Miss shouted down the corridor for him! But I didn't know where he went." Gwaine said shaking his head slightly ashamed. Arthur looked at the other guys to see that they had all stopped when Gwaine had been talking.  
"What did they do this morning?" Elyan asked confused voicing what the others had been thinking. Gwaine didn't say anything so Arthur figured he should  
"Umm apparently he has this notebook, and well when he left to give me the tour Cenred and his gang, the knights I think you called them," he said turning to Gwaine who just nodded "Well they went through his bag found the book and destroyed it. Ripped out pages wrote slurs and stuff…" Leon was the first to respond, the rest stood there in shock.  
"He ran to the library I knew something had to be wrong because me and Morgana were only in there so we didn't cause trouble while everyone was in form. When he asked he wouldn't tell me but then _Morgause_" he said her name with spite "Was laughing and telling Odin and her other friends about it at the start of Politics." He sighed when he finished. He saw that Lancelot and Elyan had their hands in fists; Gwaine had finally looked up and looked pissed, while Leon and Percival seemed to still be in shock.  
"Look guys it's complete and utter shit what they did to him but we should really get to school." Arthur said realising that they were going to be late. They all nodded and quickly started walking back to school in silence.

* * *

_**A:N so gu**__**ys I hoped you liked this last chapter I'm so shit at updating but maybe if I got a few more reviews *hint hint* I may have more incentive ;) But to bluespiritgal, XxMerlingirlxx and my friend Izzybel who did review thank you so so muchlike sirus-ly thanks**__** :D**__**  
**__**And thank you new favourite and Alerters glad to know you like it enough to be told when it's been updated. Kay LOVE YOU GUYSSSSSSS!1111!1!111!**__**  
**__**less-than-3 Lou Lou ;)**__**  
**__**p.s PLEASE REVIEW**__**  
**_


	7. TUMBLR

_**A/N: by the way people I feel the need to point out that the class timetable these characters have is completely inaccurate if they were studying A-levels and GCSE's but to make the story work I needed them to have more classes and in single periods (I may change this later on) but yeah just thought I'd let you know, also I have given Arthur a birthday…  
Disclaimer: I own Merlin, I wished as a shooting star flew past the window…  
oh and it's still Arthur's POV**_

* * *

The rest of the day past in an almost blur. Arthur barely paid attention to his final two classes which were PE, which he took with Leon and Percival, and Economics which was so similar to Politics it was unbelievable. As the final bell went to signal the end of school Arthur rushed to get to his car as soon as possible. When he turned 17 on the 31st of September his dad [aid for him to get driving lessons and Uther being Uther wanted Arthur to be able to drive as soon as possible and after a month he took his test and passed. When him and morgana found out they were going to be attending Camelot their dad brought Arthur his car, a 67 Impala Chevy, Uther had at first refused buying him the car telling him that he deserved something that was more fitting to their family standards but it was a classic and that argument and Morgana talking to him (Uther had a real soft spot for Morgana) Arthur got the car.

He was leaning against the driver door waiting for Morgana; she had texted him earlier in the day to let him know she would meet him by his car. After about 10 minutes Arthur was getting fed-up of waiting _**'where the fuck is she? I swear if she's not here in the next 5 bloody minutes I'm leaving without her!' **_but as he thought this he looked up to see Morgana hurrying towards him.  
"What the hell took you so long?" He almost shouted at her. She laughed at his anger before replying.  
"I was talking to some friends, sorry to keep you waiting your Highness." She replied sarcastically. Arthur stared at her  
"It wasn't Morgause and her gang was it?" He asked worriedly. She shook her head  
"No it was the girl I was telling you this morning about, Gwen and her friend Merlin you do remember him right?"  
"Of course I remember him." He bit back "did he say anything about me?" Arthur asked curiously as they got into the car, acting as nonchalant as possible but this only caused him to look more suspicious. Morgana frowned at him confused before smirking.  
"Aside from that you're an insufferable prat, no, he didn't."  
"He called me a what! He practically shrieked which caused Morgana to start laughing uncontrollably  
"Oh Arthur judging from the way you too were this morning in the library I'd say you already knew that." Arthur let out a huffed breath of annoyance.

* * *

Once they arrived they both rushed off to their separate rooms. Arthur opened up his laptop and quickly logged onto his Facebook to see if any of his _'friends' _ had been having arguments or posting stupid status's that he could rant about on tumblr. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you looked at it there were nothing of interest for him on Facebook but he did have some new Facebook friend requests. He smiled as he saw that Lance, Percival, Leon, Gwaine and Elyan had all added him and he was shocked to see that Gwen had as well he quickly accepted them all before moving on to see who else had a request; but when he saw Odin and some guy called Cenred along with some others he recognised from Morgause's gang this morning and names she'd mentioned he found himself feeling angry and logged off not wanting to look at the people who hurt Merlin _**'wait **__**did I really just… I barely even know the guy! I only met him today! Why the fuck do I care so much!?' **_

* * *

(Merlin's POV now…)

* * *

Merlin sighed as he opened the door to his house. Normally Gwen came over but today her dad had wanted her to come back.  
"Mum? Are you home?" he called as he walked into the kitchen. Pinned to the fridge was a note.

_Merlin,  
I've gone out to town. I'll be back around 6.  
Love you  
mama_

Merlin sighed to himself, he knew she was looking for another job that she could do in the little free time she had. Merlin was looking into getting a job for himself but it was hard, he didn't want his mum to know and trying to do things without her knowledge was difficult. But they needed the money and he knew that if she found out she would stop him or worse feel like a bad parent because her son realises that he needs to work.

* * *

He went up to his room and logged onto his tumblr on the second hand laptop he'd gotten after saving up the little pocket money he got for around 2 years. Although he was social excluded what with Gwen being his only real friend anymore he felt like tumblr accepted him. He had around 200 followers and though none of them regularly talked to him some of them would send him a cheerful message every now and then; sometimes it would be a terrible joke, sometimes a question from one of those lists of numbers with questions, and sometimes they told him a little story of something interesting that had happened to them.

When he logged on he noticed that his follower count had gone up from 244 to 250. He smiled to himself he hadn't been on tumblr for a couple of days he'd been trying to look for a job and had been spending more time doing stuff in his special little book recently. That thought caused his face to drop and his eyes to tear up slightly. _'No, no, NO! I will not think about that.' _He thought to himself as he shook his head and wiped under his eyes to remove the tears gathering there.

He went on his post list to see if these new followers had been reblogging anything from him. Most of the new followers had just reblogged one or two things but one person had reblogged a lot. Their url was knights-of-the-round-table which considering Merlin's was the-destiny-of-a-great-kingdom made the reblogging rather understandable. Merlin clicked on the blog but as soon as he saw it he sat in shock. It was Arthur's blog. Arthur fucking Pendragon had a tumblr blog and was following him! _'Oh my god! What__ the fuck! What do I do?' _Merlin thanked his lucky stars that he never posted anything about himself on his blog so there was no way of Arthur knowing who he was. _'Okay Merlin calm down, this isn't too bad. Oh fuck who am I kidding!' _Merlin stared at his screen for a bit longer before deciding to pretend he hadn't seen that Arthur was following him.

After a while Merlin became curious and wanted to see Arthur's blog properly. The latest post was someone asking how many followers he had _'Christ 20,000' _Merlin thought to himself _'how the fuck did he find my blog' _Merlin wanted to send him a message but he wasn't sure what he would say Merlin shook his head before deciding to close down the computer and decided this new follower meant nothing.

* * *

_**A/N god I am so sorry for not updating this sooner and to be honest I don't think I'm going to update for a while really sorry I've just had no inspiration**__**I'm not even going to ask for reviews because frankly I don't deserve them, thank you to everyone who **__**favourite and followed this story and thank **__**you **__**PhantomTrancyVongola**__**, **__**Jessymessy101**__**, **__**DD, **__**Ohmygoshmerlinstolemygameboy **__**, **__**KxZ fan girl**__**, **__**XxMerlingirlxx**__** and **__**friend Izzybel**__** for reviewing.**_

_**If you want you can follow me on tumblr at thatgirlinthepictureisme, I run a multi-fandom blog. **_

_**Less-than-3 you **__**  
Lou Lou xxxxxxx**_


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